Sagebrush: It’s not about a sea of uniformity. It’s about oceans of diversity.

We know sagebrush… or at least we’re well acquainted.
At High Mountain Nursery, the largest exclusively native plant nursery in the Inter-mountain
region, we are striving to craft ever better sagebrush seedlings that improve
upon current establishment rates. We’ve had millions of opportunities to
practice - from arbuscula to wyomingensis - from New Mexico to Oregon. We’ve
learned some things along the way. Our teamwork evidences an unyielding determination
to keep wildlands native merged with lifelong passions for growing. We use every
opportunity to expand our knowledge and then apply it in real, tough environments.
Our one goal is to help our clients return a damaged land to one indiscernible
from lands undisturbed – increasingly affordably.

Site – sourced seed is best.It’s no surprise to us when research and
common sense converge. There is no debate in our minds; seed harvested from sites
where seedlings are to be planted is best. We want to use your seed. Next best:
we want to be eco-typically correct. We do everything in our power to honor
that ethic. Currently we utilize the WWETAC WTM Provisional Seed Zone Maps -
often referencing Omernik Level III eco-region maps for further guidance - when
working with many seed companies to obtain the best seed choices commercially
available for our clients’ sites.

Choices must be made. We’re annually forced to
compromise. Given the nature of nature, budget
deadlines as opposed to project timelines, we must speculatively offer sagebrush
species endemic to the regions we serve. Utah being home, our inventory
typically features Utah genetics

instead of nothing at all. However, given our druthers, we’d much
prefer to use site-specific seed.

Call us to collect.Shorthanded? Out of time, botanists, or woven-poly
bags? We have well-trained crews, botanical knowledge, and the field experience
necessary to efficiently collect the correct seed at its peak from your site without
creating another site in need of restoration. Ask us to provide you a
collection quote. We think the cost well warranted when applied to the overall
success of the install.

Singulation: it’s not just wonk-speak for one. Competition in nature is
normal. Competition in a cell-sized root zone is not. At transplant we reduce
the number of seedlings per pot (10 c.i.) to one. Our considered opinion is that
this practice significantly increases establishment rates.

Mycorrhizae schmikeorrizuh.If we know more about space than we do about the
deep blue seas, then where does that put mycorrhizae in the grand scheme of
things? We think mycorrhizae are the next frontier. We routinely employ them
using multiple strategies despite thin evidence supporting what we intuitively
know to be important to successful restoration. We’ll work with you, or the
mycologist of your choice, to establish the proper endos and ectos in and on your
plants. We do nothing to preclude their survival. By design we fertilize at very
low rates. No fungicides are applied after transplant. No systemic insecticides
or pre-emergent herbicides are used on sagebrush. No neo-nicotinoids. At times
we run our soils dry to condition plants and prevent disease, but not to the
point of damaging living tissue on sagebrush or fungi. That would be a silly
thing to do.

Yes. Soil incorporated
is traded over-the-counter (OTC).We recognize thatsoil is a mysterious thing. What, beyond a patent
attorney, makes a Yellow Granex No. 2 onion a sweet Vidalia? Soil. We have the
equipment and the handling experience to mix soil from your site into our
growing mix – for an additional fee to cover weeding, potential fungal losses,
and additional handling. One more catch: You must collect and deliver the soil
to our facilities. We believe that, like mycorrhizae, despite little hard evidence
supporting better establishment of soil-incorporated seedlings, the keys to
success probably lie at our feet. We’re certainly eager to dig further in order
to grow you a better plant.

We don’t sell hothouse flowers. Every plant we
sell is hardened to withstand the seasonal conditions they will encounter once
planted. In winter, we reduce temperatures 5 degrees every week until the heat
is off, then we throw them outside. In summer, we simply grow outside in full
sun once the plug has been established in the pot. However, sometimes in spring
and fall, shipping up mountain poses problems.